U-23 footballers hurdle to Olympic qualifiers semi-finals

St Vincent and the Grenadines Under-23 footballers have qualified for the semi-final stage of the Caribbean Football Union’s group of the men’s Olympic qualifiers.{{more}}

The Vincentians’ next assignment is against Haiti, August 14, at a venue to be decided by CFU.

Jamaica and Cuba meet in the other half of the semis. Jamaica topped group three, played in Dominica, while Cuba did the same in group two – contested in Antigua and Barbuda.

In the August 16 CFU title match, the two finalists will advance to the CONCACAF zone of the qualifiers, which will also comprise Mexico, USA, Canada and three from the Central America (UNCAF) zone.

SVG’s journey

St Vincent and the Grenadines topped group four, which ended last Monday night at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, in Puerto Rico, finishing unbeaten on four points.

A come from behind 2-2 draw with the host last Thursday and a 5-3 stalling of Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday set up St Vincent and the Grenadines’ progress.

In their opening salvo, the Vincentians’ goals came from Azhino Solomon in the 12th minute and Oalex Anderson in the 80th minute, while for the Puerto Ricans Cooper Nungent netted in the 9th and Reid Strain in the 75th minute.

But it was last Saturday’s encounter with the Trinidadians which cemented their position.

Goals came from Tevin Slater – a hat-trick and one each from Oalex Anderson and Brad Miguel accounted for the Vincentians’ tally, while Rundell Winchester and Akeem Roach – two, netted for the Trinidad and Tobago outfit.

Slater netted in the 17th, 38th and 85th minutes, while Anderson’s item came in the 19th and Miguel – the 42nd minute. Roach registered his brace in the 68th and 79th minutes and Winchester in the 55th.

Trinidad and Tobago assured that St Vincent and the Grenadines’ passage was safe, by dumping Puerto Rico 5-0 on Monday night.

The Puerto Ricans had an opportunity to leap-frog the Vincentians, if they had come away victors by three clear goals over Trinidad and Tobago.

Before getting to the Puerto Rico stage of the qualifiers, the first round saw St Vincent and the Grenadines beating Dominica 5-0 on aggregate in the two legs, played here in May.

Hurdles

The problem plagued group saw Suriname withdrawing because of visa issues, while St Vincent and the Grenadines faced similar challenges.

Marooned in Barbados for two days, delayed by visa procurement challenges, the St Vincent and the Grenadines outfit was forced to overnight in Miami, arriving in Puerto Rico mere hours prior their first match against the host in the reconfigured group, which was originally set to kick off June 24.

The visa delay almost cost the Vincentians the match, as according to reports, at one point, they were given a deadline by CFU personnel.

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation Venold Coombs told the local media on Monday, “They had already sent say we can’t take part.”

Likewise, Trinidad and Tobago faced similar visa issues.